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Ian Rambles
We were very lucky with our taxi driver from the hydrofoil
jetty. He knew where we needed to go, in which offices
to wave our documents and his way round the enormous
Corus steelworks.
Fiona's Journal
We stopped pretending to be real backpackers and got
a taxi to take us and all our baggage to the hydrofoil
jetty, even though it is only half a mile away! The
hydrofoils are fast and comfortable and run every 30
minutes from Amsterdam down-river to Ijmuiden. This
makes 7 different modes of transport we have used already,
if you count walking.
From the hydrofoil jetty in Ijmuiden we got another
taxi to take us first to the Immigration Office, where
we had to present our passports for outward clearance,
and then to the offices of the Corus Steel Co. Here
we had to obtain ID badges and official clearance papers
to enter their huge industrial site where our ship,
“Isa” was moored and in the process of loading
her cargo of high grade steel. Finally, after an 8 mile
and 40 minute excursion, we arrived at our first sight
of mv Isa (pronounced something between Eesa and Eesher)
– our home and our transport for the next two weeks.
She is reassuringly massive. Subjectively, about the
size of one of the platforms at Reading railway station
with a six storey block of flats on one end. Objectively
650 foot long and weighing 35,000 tonnes when fully
laden. The ship herself, and her setting, are uncompromisingly
industrial and yet, to me, beautiful. She smells inside
of tar and wood polish and floor-cleaner and hot metal
and engines. In fact, she smells very much the same
as HMS Warrior whom we went to see in Portsmouth earlier
this year. There is obviously a generic smell of “big
ship” which changes little over the centuries –
I love it.
Our cabins are excellent, bigger than any of our rooms
at home and much less spartan than I had imagined; we
each have en suite shower, basin and loo. Ian and I have
the “Owners Cabin” on the top deck opposite
the Bridge. Arthur's cabin is three decks down and labeled
“Crew (I) - Seaman” and Harry and George share
a cabin, one deck lower, labeled “Crew MN Apprentices”.
The Polish word for apprentices seems to be “Praktikanci”
which I rather like – I wonder if our trainee nurses
would like to be know as Praktikanci? There is none of
the helpful signage that you get on passenger ferries,
to tell you which deck you are on and show you the layout,
so I expect I shall get lost quite a lot to start with.
We had a meeting with the Kapitan in his cabin, to
complete further paperwork and to brief us about shipboard
life. It appears that we can go pretty much wherever
we like, including into the pantry to make a snack for
ourselves in the evening if we are hungry. We have to
ask, and be accompanied by an engineer, if we want to
go into the engine room which seems entirely reasonable!
The Kapitan's name is Thomasz and he seems very friendly,
speaks excellent English, and looks barely old enough
to drive a car, let alone be in charge of 35,000 tonne
ship!
After tea, which is at 5.00pm while in port and 5.30
when at sea, the boys and I play a chaotic game of table
tennis and then join Ian on the Bridge Deck to watch
our cargo of steel being loaded.
This is a much slower and more labour-intensive process
than I would have imagined. The cranes are gargantuan
and operated by a one tiny man way above us in his cab.
The trains, pulling huge flatbed trucks carrying the
rolls of coiled steel, are operated by one man way below
us on the ground with a remote control handset. But
each crane still requires 3 men in hard hats and orange
boiler suits to guide the chains down and secure the
hooks to the load, ready for lifting. And then they
need 3 more men in hard hats and boiler suits, in the
hold, to guide each roll down and manhandle it into
position, stuff all the gaps with dunnage and chain
each roll to the next, so that the cargo will not shift
in heavy seas.
Arthur's Log:
I am sooo glad we didn't walk to the ship I reckon
looking at the whole thing it would have been about
4 miles which is nothing but lugging a 30Kg bag on your
back and two 10Kg bags in your hands (about 8 stone
in total) it seems like a lot further.
We had to take a hydrofoil across and down the river
and now I tell you what a hydrofoil is. At first it
just looks like a tourist river boat, long, lots of
seats, lots of windows, but when it accelerates it lifts
out of the water on 2 skis to reduce surface tension.
If I was to explain how it feels then I would say if
felt like a airplane taking off but up to the bit were
the front wheels lift off not the back ones, so short
hand for what it feels like is and airplane wheelying.
After the hydrofoil we got another taxi and, luckily
for us, the driver knew every place we needed to go
to check in. Which isn't easy because the ships only
carry 6 or so passengers so there is no big sign saying
CHECK IN YOU MUST BE BLIND NOT TO SEE THIS SIGN
Our ship the Isa is huge but so much space is given
to cargo there isn't that much space to walk around.
There is the deck and 5 stories up from the deck, mostly
cabins but there is also a galley, two TV rooms, larder,
kitchen, utility room and (my favorite) a ping pong
room. The place is hot and airless and stinks of diesel
but I don't mind - it makes it feel like a cargo ship
and not a P&O ferry.
After dumping everything in our cabin we went and had
a chat with the captain and when I asked the question
“Where on the ship are we allowed to go, what are
our boundary's?” he simply said “oh everywhere”.In
fact there were only three rules which could easily
be rolled into one rule called “USE COMMON SENSE”
like don't go for a stroll on deck in a force ten gale,
or don't get in the way when were maneuvering into a
lock.
We leave Ijmuiden tomorrow .
The Harry Report
Got onto the ship slept till the sun rose again.
George's Musings
I was a bit squeezed in the taxi's - but it was miles
better than walking!
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